


Going Through The Motions

by love_killed_the_superstar



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Gem Egg Hell, Gen, Magical Pregnancy, Multi, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, and writes them off because she's the epitome of chill, basically amethyst is completely oblivious to any and all symptoms
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-18
Updated: 2016-05-18
Packaged: 2018-06-09 05:17:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6891715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_killed_the_superstar/pseuds/love_killed_the_superstar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amethyst prided herself in being the most laid back of the Crystal Gems, but often Pearl would chide her on being too laid back, to which Amethyst would either politely ignore or brush off with a witty comeback about Pearl's uptight attitude. Of course, as with everything, there were exceptions wherein Pearl was actually onto something.<br/>Like the geodes, for instance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Going Through The Motions

**Author's Note:**

> Wowwwww my first stand alone egg hell fic in months. Ever since people started sending me headcanons almost a year ago now, one has stuck with me: Amethyst carrying and just being completely oblivious to any and all symptoms that she's carrying. Like, she feels fatigued?? Big deal, everyone gets tired sometimes. She throws up? Eh, probably ate something past the expiration date again. And so on, so forth.  
> So yeah, this fic came to mind. I just like Amethyst deciding things for herself. (Also, this is set some time betwen Catch And Release and Gem Drill, so Peridot is briefly mentioned like, once, but she doesn't actually appear in this fic since I started it before she was a part of the team.)

Amethyst prided herself in being the most laid back of the Crystal Gems, but often Pearl would chide her on being _too_ laid back, to which Amethyst would either politely ignore or brush off with a witty comeback about Pearl's uptight attitude. Of course, as with everything, there were exceptions wherein Pearl was actually onto something.

Like the geodes, for instance.

Now, Amethyst tended not to let the minor details worry her, so the increased appetite was no big deal. She _liked_ eating. If she was beginning to actually feel hungry obviously it could only mean that she would have an excuse for pigging out (not that she ever felt guilty about it anyway). The only difference was that now when Steven went to get fry bits she'd tag along and order, say, a large cheeseburger too. It wasn't anything to concern herself with, and Steven didn't appear to pick up on any changes.

Then there was the vomiting. It had only happened a few times so it wasn't like she was concerned. It definitely wasn't the first time she'd thrown up after eating something bad and it wasn't going to be the last either, so she just let it happen and figured she should probably stop with the excess eating. It wasn't a real problem or anything, after all.

After that came the weight gain. It was hardly noticeable at first so she didn't think anything of it. If her physical form was putting on weight... well, she hadn't seen that happen before, but then again none of the other gems tended to eat excessively like she did, so it was probably normal. Until it got serious she'd just pretend like everything was dandy. After all, Peridot said that quartzes were supposed to be beefy, so maybe this _was_ normal, and she was just going through the motions.

All in all, these were little things that a crystal gem shouldn't be concerning themselves with, so she decided to let the chips fall as they may, figuring it was just nature's long-time-coming punishment for sapping its life force away when her gem was first formed.

Pearl caught her throwing up one of the mornings; she'd been on her way to get a snack when the nausea had hit suddenly, and in her haste she had ended up vomiting in the sink instead of the toilet like she tried to do most of the time. Pearl, who had been at the fridge reaching for the milk, preparing to make Steven's breakfast, squawked and moved about three feet away, holding up her hands as though Amethyst would put her in the line of fire.

“Amethyst!” she scolded, once she had recovered from the initial shock. “For goodness' sake! This is a sanitary area to prepare food, you can't just – just expel your stomach contents in the same place I clean the dishes!”

“Shut up,” groaned Amethyst in between heaving breaths. The last thing she needed right now was Pearl's whining. She didn't expect for Pearl to then reluctantly reach back to keep her hair away from her face; though she couldn't save the bangs, which were already slightly dirtied, it meant most of her hair stayed clean until she was finished heaving.

“You really should stop eating excessively,” Pearl pointed out, running the tap to swill most of the vomit away. She held a glass under the faucet long enough to fill a glass of water, which she handed to Amethyst to take away some of the burn and the acidic taste in her mouth. “Gems aren't designed to eat as much as you have been lately. It's no wonder it's making you sick.”

“Huh, whatever,” Amethyst said with a shrug, too tired to deal with Pearl's complaining. “In that case, I'll just keep on getting sick and you'll keep on getting mad at me! It's almost like nothing's changed!”

“Don't be like that. We have changed, for the better. I hope.” Pearl leaned down slightly and pressed a kiss to Amethyst's forehead, before grimacing and pulling away again. “Please go wash, you smell disgusting.”

“I got some in my hair,” Amethyst stated with a shrug, grinning as Pearl shrunk away with a horrified expression.

 

…

 

“I'm worried about Amethyst,” Steven told Connie the next time she came over.

Since Pearl was out on a mission for today Connie's sword fighting practice had been put on hold, meaning they had the afternoon to themselves. They'd watched three episodes of Under The Knife, discussed the news of a possible film adaptation of The Unfamiliar Familiar that Connie had read about online (including locations, actors, costume choices, how cool it would be if Lion could play one of the lion guards...) and Steven had introduced Connie to the new Golf Quest app, before they sat down for their 3 o'clock Rant Hour, where they'd kick off with talking through things that were worrying them or they wanted to get off their chests. Connie had already retold her father's mixed reaction to the hospital incident, and even though her mother was making more of an effort to reach out to her, her father hadn't taken the news so well and was determined not to discuss it with his family. Now it was Steven's turn, and the first thing that came to mind was Amethyst's odd behaviour.

“Why? Has she said something weird to you?”

“No, but she's been acting weird. She eats way more than me now, and I know she's always liked to eat but recently she seems to be... putting on weight? It doesn't bother me, but it's just kind of odd since I didn't think gems _could_ gain weight.” He rested his chin in his hands, rolling on the bed so he was lying on his front. His gem dug into the surrounding skin of his stomach slightly and he made a face.

“And the other day I heard her being sick, too. I don't know, it's just weird. Amethyst gets food poisoning sometimes, but then the day before Pearl was scrubbing out the sink when I woke up. So I think she was sick then, too. I think she's been hiding it though, the other time was in the middle of the night.”

He sighed. “I'm just worried, Connie. What if something's really wrong with Amethyst? Y-Your mom's a doctor, could she check Amethyst out?”

Connie shook her head solemnly.

“After what happened at the hospital, Mom's convinced that she doesn't know nearly enough about gem-related entities, including the gems. She doesn't want to get involved until she's talked to some researchers in Keystone about what happened.”

“Darn.” Steven stared down at the duvet glumly.

“B-But maybe I could help!” Connie added quickly, hating to see her friend so down. “If we make a list of the symptoms, we could use the internet to find out what's up with Amethyst!”

“That's a great idea!”

They tore a sheet from Steven's sketchpad and Connie grabbed a pen from her bag. From there Steven listed the bizarre symptoms he'd noticed, and Connie scribbled them down, before turning to Steven's iPad to determine the cause.

“Steven... do you think Amethyst could be pregnant?” Connie asked hesitantly. Steven stared.

“What? No way, Amethyst – she – she doesn't _like_ humans, so how...?” His eyes grew wide as saucers. “No! No, what if she _is_ going to have a baby? When my mom had me she gave up her physical form! Amethyst can't leave too!”

“Th-There's no real proof that that is the case,” Connie said quickly, jumping to her feet. “That's just what the symptoms point to, that's all! It'll be okay!”

At that moment, the warp pad sounded, and Pearl stepped off, brushing off the front of her sash.

“Pearl!”

She jumped slightly and glanced up at the two children on the bed.

“O-Oh, hello there, Steven,” she greeted with a smile. “Hello there, Connie. Are you two having a good time?”

“U-Um, yeah, we're just... sitting around,” Connie tried. Pearl cocked her head at Connie's paper-thin lie and Steven's sullen expression.

“Steven? What's wrong?”

“Pearl, we think Amethyst's pregnant and she's gonna disappear,” Steven wailed.

Pearl stared.

“Er... what?”

“She keeps eating a lot and she's starting to put on weight and she keeps being sick too, I know she is. Don't try and tell me it's nothing, I'm really worried about her!” he gabbled, truly miserable.

“Steven, calm down,” Pearl said sharply, and he quietened. She climbed the steps to his room and sat down between Steven and Connie. “Amethyst isn't pregnant, Steven. She has no relations with humans that could equate to that happening, I assure you. And without thorough research, gems can't even reproduce with any other species aside from their own.”

“How do you know?” he muttered. “You and Amethyst fight a lot so she probably doesn't tell you everything.”

“We've been making more of an effort to get along since what happened at... Kindergarten,” she explained, sighing. “We're a team. If something was the matter with Amethyst she would confide in us.”

“And has she?” Steven countered.

“She hasn't mentioned anything being wrong, no.”

“She might just be hiding it so we don't worry,” Steven pointed out, growing more anxious by the second. “Please can you ask her about it? She won't tell me if something's wrong. I know you all keep things from me to protect me, but if something's the matter I want to help.”

She pulled him into a quick hug. “I promise if something comes up I'll tell you. And, while I'm sure nothing is the matter with Amethyst, I will ask her how she's feeling the next time I see her. All right?”

After a few moments, Steven nodded. “Okay, Pearl.”

 

…

 

“Are you feeling okay, Amethyst?” Pearl asked casually that night, having stepped into Amethyst's room. Amethyst, who was lounging on a stained mattress on one of her many junk piles, glanced up lazily.

“I'm fine, P. What are you doing in my room?”

“Steven was worried about you, you know.”

She side-stepped a broken picture frame containing a photograph of the gems, Greg and an teary-eyed infant Steven. Greg had insisted on the photograph being taken (something about it being important to make a physical memory of their family unit for sentimental reasons) and Pearl remembered how angry Amethyst had been because they'd been unable to stop Steven from crying the entire time. She was surprised Amethyst had even kept it after all these years.

“Eh, kids worry. What can you do?”

“He said he was concerned because you've been vomiting a lot, in addition to the changes in appetite and recent weight gain.”

“Rude,” Amethyst shot back, though her heart wasn't in it. “Sure, I've been puking a bit lately, but whatever. It's no weirder than eating a ton or needing more sleep.”

“You're needing more sleep as well?” Pearl enquired. “But gems shouldn't _need_ sleep... Amethyst, you haven't been... _involved_ with any humans recently, have you?”

Amethyst snorted.

“Please! Besides Steven – who is obviously out of the question – I know like, two human beings, one being Greg and the other being Vidalia. Last time I checked Vidalia was married, and Greg is... Greg. Not in my tastes. So no, P, I ain't been 'involved' with a human for quite some time. Why are you even asking all this? It's not like you to care about what or _who_ I do.”

“Well, it's nothing important,” Pearl sighed. “Steven suggested... no, it's silly. Forget I asked.” She turned to leave.

“What?” Amethyst sat up, wincing as a strange grazing sensation came from her lower belly. She put a hand to it gingerly. “Ouch. Come on, Pearl, you can't shut down now! I'm finally interested in what you're gonna say!”

“...Steven thought you might be pregnant. Which I told him wasn't possible, of course.”

“It's not?” Amethyst remarked, though glancing down at her stomach, a lot of things suddenly began to make sense. “Can gems even get pregnant? Besides Rose I mean.”

“Well, yes,” Pearl muttered. “If two _gems_ were to get involved, then-”

She froze, then turned around ever so slowly.

“Wait a minute. I know we haven't done anything like that yet, but, did you _want_ to-?”

“No, it isn't that!” Amethyst protested. Pearl's gaze travelled down to Amethyst's hand, still pressed to her stomach. Realisation dawned, and she groaned audibly.

“Oh, no, no, Amethyst, please say no.”

“In my defence I had no idea-” Amethyst began quickly, but Pearl had her head in her hands.

“You and Garnet have been – ooh, Amethyst, didn't Garnet warn you of the potential risks?! Does she know about this?!”

Not two moments later the temple door opened, and Garnet wandered in, mouth slightly agape.

“I know now,” she admitted, and Pearl groaned again.

“I-I can't believe this! How many weeks ago did this happen?!”

Amethyst shrugged.

“I dunno, I think it was around the time you started training Connie?”

“That long ago?! Oh dear,” muttered Pearl. She moved over to Amethyst, palpating her stomach with a furrowed brow. “Oh, no, I can feel them. The geodes, I mean. They're pretty small though. A-Are you sure that was when you conceived?”

“Could have been later,” Garnet murmured. “Maybe even as late as the first time we formed Sardonyx.”

Pearl didn't look at Garnet, but it was easy to see the pale blue dusting her cheeks. “Right. Ah. Okay then, that would make more sense. They aren't big enough to be from back when I first began teaching Connie to swordfight, unless they're extremely underdeveloped. Which is possible, I suppose, but it's far more likely you two conceived at a later date.”

She exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. “How often were the two of you involved, anyway? I didn't think you... did that kind of thing.”

“Just because you're late to the party doesn't mean we have to sit still like prudes,” Amethyst remarked. “Back when Rose was around we did it all the time. I don't get why this had to happen now!”

“The likelihood of this ever happening is just so low,” muttered Garnet, folding her arms. “Kindergarten gems are hardly fertile, and the same goes to fusions. While it's possible, the probability is so minute I never considered it.”

“Well, please consider it from this point onwards!” Pearl was close to pulling out her hair. “Because the two of you didn't think, Amethyst is now-”

“Still here, still in this conversation, and yeah, still pregnant,” Amethyst interrupted. “This conversation isn't going to magically make things better, Pearl.”

“Right... right...” Pearl groaned. “Oh, I can't believe this is happening... y-you're too young for this, Amethyst!”

Amethyst snorted at that.

“I'm nearly five thousand years old, P.”

“Too young!” she insisted.

“Pearl, Amethyst is her own gem, and old enough to decide for herself if she is ready to bring these gems into the world. If not... well, we could always bubble them, I suppose.” Garnet didn't sound too enthused by the idea, but at the end of the day, the choice was down to Amethyst.

“Bubble them? That's not – we can't do that! We can't put them in with the monsters, and the enemy gems! Their lives are too precious for that!” Amethyst cried, incredulous. She clutched her stomach again, feeling the ever so slight solidness of several geodes. She met Pearl and Garnet's gaze again. “Yeah, it's gonna be hard, b-but we can do things better this time! We were hardly there for Steven, so... we can't let our new family down like we did him.”

Maybe she was being foolish. Maybe she was being irrational. Maybe she wouldn't be an amazing parent, but to Steven, she knew she already was one, however many mistakes she made, however she missed out on parts of his life when she was grieving for Rose or just couldn't bother to care for a baby.

Pearl and Garnet exchanged glances.

“That's... very mature of you, Amethyst,” Pearl said slowly. “But please know that we won't hold anything against you if you change your mind before they hatch. It's a big responsibility, and if you don't feel ready for it-”

“Didn't I just say that I wanted to do this? I want this for myself. I know this is really weird but, this is my choice.” The thought occurred to her suddenly. “Wait, I'm not gonna, uh, vanish like Rose, am I...?”

“Definitely not,” Garnet cut in quickly. “Rose disappeared because she gave her gem to Steven. These geodes contain their own gems.”

“Well, that's good, I guess.” Amethyst laughed nervously. “Shit. Um, this is wild.”

“Tell me about it.” Pearl sighed heavily. “You two are a reckless combination even when you aren't Sugilite.”

“But you love us,” teased Amethyst in a sing-song voice. Pearl couldn't hide a tired smile at that.

“I suppose I do. Have no idea why.”

“Now that this is settled, gems, the next few months are going to be hectic. I hope you're ready.” Garnet reached for Amethyst and Pearl's hands, and the three of them stood in an awkward hand-holding formation, exchanging nervous, if not overwhelmingly excited, glances. “This is going to be intense.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lets be honest here, Amethyst by far has the most experience with kids from hanging out with Vidalia. Pearl may be the most concerned and overbearing parent, and Garnet might be the best at giving the kid hugs and kisses, but Amethyst actually knows the ins and outs of taking care of INFANTS, so she'd make the best new mom out of the three, I reckon. Just let her have cute egg babies please  
> As usual please let me know if you liked, or hated, or just missed my eggfics! Still no more progress with a sequel to A Full House, sorry guys. But hey, maybe some day.


End file.
